Committee rejects pay plan; alderman wants to fire negotiator

St. Louis, MO – The St. Louis alderman that leads the committee on public employees is calling for the ouster of the city's personnel director.

Alderman Stephen Gregali says Richard Frank acted in bad faith when he negotiated a three-year deal with the city's 4300 civil service employees.

Mayor Francis Slay and the Civil Service Commission rejected that contract, saying it was too expensive.

Slay and the commission proposed a one-year deal, which the committee rejected Tuesday.

Frank repeatedly told the aldermen he didn't know how much money he had to work with when he negotiated the three-year deal - an argument Gregali doesn't buy.

He wants the mayor's office to discipline or fire Frank.

"I don't believe that what he negotiated was a fair deal to the city, or to the employees," Gregali said.

Spokesmen for Mayor Slay did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The rejected pay plan would have given employees a 2.5 percent raise and a $300 bonus. The vote Tuesday means no raises, which union representatives like Christopher Molitor are okay with.

"We negotiated a pay raise in good faith, and that's a pay raise that should for forward," said Molitor, the president of the city's firefighters union. "We're trying to get the best deal for our employees."